Skip to main content
Sister Publication Links
  • Sustainable Plastics
  • Rubber News
Subscribe
  • Sign Up Free
  • Login
  • Subscribe
  • News
    • Processor News
    • Suppliers
    • More News
    • Digital Edition
    • End Markets
    • Special Reports
    • Newsletters
    • Videos
    • Injection Molding
    • Blow Molding
    • Film & Sheet
    • Pipe/Profile/Tubing
    • Rotomolding
    • Thermoforming
    • Recycling
    • Machinery
    • Materials
    • Molds/Tooling
    • Product news
    • Design
    • K Show
    • Mergers & Acquisitions
    • Sustainability
    • Public Policy
    • Material Insights Videos
    • Numbers that Matter
    • Automotive
    • Packaging
    • Medical
    • Consumer Products
    • Construction
    • Processor of the Year
    • Best Places to Work
      • 2023 winners
    • Women Breaking the Mold
    • Rising Stars
    • Diversity
    • Most Interesting Social Media Accounts in Plastics
  • Opinion
    • The Plastics Blog
    • Kickstart
    • One Good Resin
    • Pellets and Politics
    • All Things Data
    • Viewpoint
    • From Pillar to Post
    • Perspective
    • Mailbag
    • Fake Plastic Trees
  • Shop Floor
    • Blending
    • Compounding
    • Drying
    • Injection Molding
    • Purging
    • Robotics
    • Size Reduction
    • Structural Foam
    • Tooling
    • Training
  • Events
    • K Show Livestream
    • Plastics News Events
    • Industry Events
    • Injection Molding & Design Expo
    • Livestreams/Webinars
    • Editorial Livestreams
    • Ask the Expert
    • Plastics News Events Library
    • Processor of the Year submissions
    • Plastics News Executive Forum
    • Injection Molding & Design Expo
    • Plastics News Caps & Closures
    • Women Breaking the Mold Networking Forum
    • Plastics in Automotive
    • Bioplastics Live
    • PN Live: Mergers and Acquisitions
    • Polymer Points Live
    • Numbers that Matter Live
    • Plastics in Politics Live
    • Sustainable Plastics Live
    • Plastics Caps & Closures Library
    • Plastics in Healthcare Library
    • Women Breaking the Mold Networking Forum Library
  • Rankings & Data
    • Injection Molders
    • Blow Molders
    • Film Sheet
    • Thermoformers
    • Pipe Profile Tubing
    • Rotomolders
    • Mold/Toolmakers
    • LSR Processors
    • Recyclers
    • Compounders - List
    • Association - List
    • Plastic Lumber - List
    • All
  • Directory
  • Resin Prices
    • Resin Prices Overview
    • Commodity Thermoplastics
    • High Temperature Thermoplastics
    • Engineering Thermoplastics
    • Recycled Plastics
    • Thermosets
  • Custom
    • Sponsored Content
    • LS Mtron Sponsored Content
    • Conair Sponsored Content
    • KraussMaffei Sponsored Content
    • ENGEL Sponsored Content
    • White Papers
    • Classifieds
    • Place an Ad
    • Sign up for Early Classified
MENU
Breadcrumb
  1. Home
  2. Viewpoint
May 09, 2014 02:00 AM

Chinese domestic consumers are key

  • Tweet
  • Share
  • Share
  • Email
  • More
    Reprints Print
    Rich Williams

    Ten years ago in Shanghai, Plastics News covered the Chinaplas show for the first time. Back then, Milacron had just manufactured its first injection press in China, GE Plastics was still GE Plastics, a dollar exchanged for 8 yuan RMB and Shanghai's sky was still blue.

    After a busy decade filled with growth numbers, investments and expansions, this year's Chinaplas left me with a different takeaway message. Call it a milestone, a turning point, or a new era — China's domestic market and domestic customers should be the core of your latest China strategy.

    Yes, low-cost manufacturing and exports are a passing trend. Chinese domestic consumers and brand owners hold the key to the future.

    For many leading materials and machinery suppliers — DuPont, Brückner, Engel, just to name a few — Asia, particularly China, either has become or is becoming their largest market. Even more impressive than the market volume is the growth. Love it or hate it, China remains the growth engine for our global industry.

    China's nearly 14,000 plastics processors saw their total sales climb 15 percent in 2013, with profit up by 17 percent. The growth almost exclusively came from China's domestic market, as exports stayed flat with a mere 1 percent year-on-year increase.

    The faster-than-GDP-growth rate continued in the first quarter of 2014. China's rubber and plastics processing sector reported an 11 percent sales increase and a 16 percent profit hike.

    Beyond these cold, hard numbers, we can also get a taste of China's changing role from the warm and fuzzy rhetoric we heard at Chinaplas. Clariant believes: “Our future lies in Asia.” Davis-Standard stated: “We've made China our home.” Similarly, Engel said: “Asia is not just a market for us, it's a home base.”

    There used to be a time when Western suppliers simply followed their multinational customers to China. But Chinese domestic customers — brand owners and converters — have grown to be the main revenue source for just about everyone I've spoken to. The percentage varies, from 70 percent for Demag, to 70-plus percent for Dow Packaging, to 80 percent for Arburg.

    That's exactly why it's crucial to build up production and research capacity in China to serve the local customers with the shortest response time possible. The Chinese market, not as mature and established as the developed world, is dynamic and fast-moving. Combined with the enormous size, it requires manufacturers to be able to swiftly change design and production on a large scale.

    Multinational suppliers have really stepped up their effort to help Chinese customers identify trends, develop applications and improve productivity. With an increasing number of R&D centers launched and expanded in China over the past few years, the latest emphasis seems to be on global collaboration.

    It's not a business cliché. Global players are indeed leveraging their resources worldwide to stay ahead of the game in this fiercely competitive market. The Pack Studio Dow launched in Shanghai last week is a timely example, offering R&D but also marketing and design expertise. Here, Dow Packaging works directly with brand owners on innovative solutions that cater to Chinese consumers' particular needs.

    With massive urbanization continuing to take place and millions of middleclass consumers changing their lifestyle, China is at the last stage of its economic boom, before eventually slowing down into a more mild growth model.

    It's go big or go home. It's now or never.

    Nina Ying Sun is assistant managing editor of Plastics News and managing editor of our bilingual Plastics News China website.

    RECOMMENDED FOR YOU
    Balance: A personal touch helps with social media. So does knowing when to be quiet
    Letter
    to the
    Editor

    Do you have an opinion about this story? Do you have some thoughts you'd like to share with our readers? Plastics News would love to hear from you. Email your letter to Editor at [email protected]

    Most Popular
    1
    Clean Vision to spend $50M on West Virginia pyrolysis plant
    2
    Plastics treaty talks get down to specifics
    3
    PP resin prices saw a big drop in May
    4
    At plastics treaty, designing bottle bills for the 'Global South'
    5
    MGS adds product design to offerings with acquisition
    SIGN UP FOR OUR FREE NEWSLETTERS
    EMAIL ADDRESS

    Please enter a valid email address.

    Please enter your email address.

    Please verify captcha.

    Please select at least one newsletter to subscribe.

    Get our newsletters

    Staying current is easy with Plastics News delivered straight to your inbox, free of charge.

    Subscribe today

    Subscribe to Plastics News

    Subscribe now
    Connect with Us
    • LinkedIn
    • Facebook
    • Twitter
    • Instagram

    Plastics News covers the business of the global plastics industry. We report news, gather data and deliver timely information that provides our readers with a competitive advantage.

    Contact Us

    1155 Gratiot Avenue
    Detroit MI 48207-2997

    Customer Service:
    877-320-1723

    Resources
    • About
    • Staff
    • Editorial Calendar
    • Media Kit
    • Data Store
    • Digital Edition
    • Custom Content
    • People
    • Contact
    • Careers
    • Sitemap
    Related Crain Publications
    • Sustainable Plastics
    • Rubber News
    • Tire Business
    • Urethanes Technology
    Legal
    • Terms and Conditions
    • Privacy Policy
    • Privacy Request
    Copyright © 1996-2023. Crain Communications, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
    • News
      • Processor News
        • Injection Molding
        • Blow Molding
        • Film & Sheet
        • Pipe/Profile/Tubing
        • Rotomolding
        • Thermoforming
        • Recycling
      • Suppliers
        • Machinery
        • Materials
        • Molds/Tooling
        • Product news
        • Design
      • More News
        • K Show
        • Mergers & Acquisitions
        • Sustainability
        • Public Policy
        • Material Insights Videos
        • Numbers that Matter
      • Digital Edition
      • End Markets
        • Automotive
        • Packaging
        • Medical
        • Consumer Products
        • Construction
      • Special Reports
        • Processor of the Year
        • Best Places to Work
          • 2023 winners
        • Women Breaking the Mold
        • Rising Stars
        • Diversity
        • Most Interesting Social Media Accounts in Plastics
      • Newsletters
      • Videos
    • Opinion
      • The Plastics Blog
      • Kickstart
      • One Good Resin
      • Pellets and Politics
      • All Things Data
      • Viewpoint
      • From Pillar to Post
      • Perspective
      • Mailbag
      • Fake Plastic Trees
    • Shop Floor
      • Blending
      • Compounding
      • Drying
      • Injection Molding
      • Purging
      • Robotics
      • Size Reduction
      • Structural Foam
      • Tooling
      • Training
    • Events
      • K Show Livestream
      • Plastics News Events
        • Plastics News Executive Forum
        • Injection Molding & Design Expo
        • Plastics News Caps & Closures
        • Women Breaking the Mold Networking Forum
        • Plastics in Automotive
      • Industry Events
      • Injection Molding & Design Expo
      • Livestreams/Webinars
        • Bioplastics Live
        • PN Live: Mergers and Acquisitions
      • Editorial Livestreams
        • Polymer Points Live
        • Numbers that Matter Live
        • Plastics in Politics Live
        • Sustainable Plastics Live
      • Ask the Expert
      • Plastics News Events Library
        • Plastics Caps & Closures Library
        • Plastics in Healthcare Library
        • Women Breaking the Mold Networking Forum Library
      • Processor of the Year submissions
    • Rankings & Data
      • Injection Molders
      • Blow Molders
      • Film Sheet
      • Thermoformers
      • Pipe Profile Tubing
      • Rotomolders
      • Mold/Toolmakers
      • LSR Processors
      • Recyclers
      • Compounders - List
      • Association - List
      • Plastic Lumber - List
      • All
    • Directory
    • Resin Prices
      • Resin Prices Overview
      • Commodity Thermoplastics
      • High Temperature Thermoplastics
      • Engineering Thermoplastics
      • Recycled Plastics
      • Thermosets
    • Custom
      • Sponsored Content
      • LS Mtron Sponsored Content
      • Conair Sponsored Content
      • KraussMaffei Sponsored Content
      • ENGEL Sponsored Content
      • White Papers
      • Classifieds
        • Place an Ad
        • Sign up for Early Classified